


Strange Allies

by theprydonian_archivist



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: Action/Adventure, Episode: s04e18 The End of Time (2), Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-25
Updated: 2011-05-24
Packaged: 2018-07-15 00:53:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 7,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7198841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theprydonian_archivist/pseuds/theprydonian_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Master is trying to leave Gallifrey. And somehow, Rory gets involved.<br/>When your life depends on something, you can make strange allies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Versaphile, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [The Prydonian](http://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Prydonian). Deciding that it needed to have a more long-term home, I began importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in June 2016. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact the e-mail address on [The Prydonian collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/theprydonian/profile).

  
Author's note: Prologue: Wherein a prisoner has no name and an ex-president offers assistance.  


* * *

Something looks wrong about the stars.  
It's not just that the Master hasn't seen them from this angle in what seems like a lifetime, although that's true. He feels a faint ache in his chest as he stares up, trying to capture this picture before it's gone forever. But something is wrong, different. Just different enough to make him uncomfortable, not enough to be striking.  
But, it's only to be expected. Stars move over the centuries after all. And he's been gone a while.  
He wishes he could see the stars from on top of a hill covered in red grass, like old times, instead of through bars. He wishes he could pull out his telescope and point to all the constellations, laughing at Theta as he struggles with them and eventually gets ridiculous and says he doesn't need to know what stars are called because planets are more interesting. Theta always loved planets, burning with life. The Master always loved stars, burning...well, just burning, really. Theta isn't here now, though. And if he had a telescope, he'd be able to see the Daleks hovering in the atmosphere. He knows this. But prison has made him a bit of a sentimentalist.  
   
The door opens, and he looks around to see Romana enter. She is tired, and she looks sad. She has wrinkles and stress lines all over her face. There is one long scar on her cheek.  
"Ma-" She stops and corrects herself. "Koschei."  
One of his punishments was that his name had been revoked. He was just Koschei now, a child once more, too young even to pick a name. The ultimate insult.  
"Romana." He acknowledges. "Are you here to escort me to an execution, or is this a personal call?"  
She sighs. "Personal."  
"Oh, goody." He says softly. "Yes, we do all die, and no, I can't recreate my escape for you. Thanks for playing, come back next week."  
"I'm not here to ask you questions." She says. "I'm here to offer you a proposal."  
"My schedule is booked with staring out the window for the next few hours, could you come back later?"  
She glares at him. "Listen to me, Koschei. This is important. The Doctor's life depends on it."  
That makes him listen as nothing else would have.  
"Go on." He says.  
She sits down next to him on the dirty cot, angling to look him in the eye.  
"I don't want the Doctor to be alone." She says. "You don't want to die. We could find a mutual goal in there, don't you think?"  
"I think I already said that I can't recreate my escape." Koschei reminds her.  
"Not locked in a cell, you can't, no."  
He raises his eyebrows. "Continue."  
She lowers her voice so she won't be overheard, speaking in a deep, important tone. "I've made a deal with the Rani. I know, I know, but desperate times and desperate measures, you understand. She found out that they were going to leave her behind when they ascended. She's offered me her extensive laboratory if I can get you out of prison. She told me this idea she had, almost poetic, really, where the only people left after the war would be the three renegades they tried to condemn to death."  
"And you agreed?" Already, his mind is racing with the possibilities. If he had access to technology like the Rani's...  
"The connection to Earth...persisted for a while after the portal closed. We got faint signals, and most of it was the Doctor, ranting. Ranting and screaming about how he didn't want to die." She looks solemn. "I'm worried for him. He can't handle loneliness. Even you would be better than nothing."  
Koschei nods, stands, and smiles.   
"A renegade scientist, a makeshift laboratory, a former president and I on a dying planet covered in Daleks. I think I can work with that."

* * *

I will try to update this about daily. I have more written but I need to tweak it. The best way to keep me writing is to review and critique. :)


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 1: Wherein Rory isn't having nightmares.

  
Author's note: Chapter 1: Wherein Rory isn't having nightmares.  


* * *

"Rory?"   
He opened his eyes. The Doctor and Amy were both standing over him, concerned. He was lying on the floor of the console room.  
"Oh. Sorry." He said, weakly. "Must have dozed off."  
"Why are you so tired?" Amy asked him. "Are you having nightmares?"  
He said no and got up, changing the subject. And it was true, he wasn't having nightmares. He had been plagued, before, with visions of the long, long time he spent waiting for Amy. He had woken up in a cold sweat, trying not to scream. He had to hide from Amy when he had nightmares.  
The new dreams were nothing like that. They were boring, commonplace. There was a man in a cell and a woman visiting. He could never remember their names; the man's in particular was tricky because he had the strangest feeling it kept changing; but he could remember the gist. She was going to get him out of jail so he could do...something. All very vaugue and dream-esque. The only strange part was that he woke up exhausted every time, like it had taken some monumental effort to dream that. He had started dozing off around the TARDIS because he was so tired.  
But he didn't want Amy to worry, so he kept to himself and hoped the dream would stop soon.  
Something must have worked, because a few nights later, the dream changed.


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Two: Wherein a common goal is set, and the Master doesn't kill anyone.

  
Author's note: Chapter Two: Wherein a common goal is set, and the Master doesn't kill anyone.  


* * *

They have formed a strange alliance, these three time lords.  
The man whose name has been revoked is referred to between them as 'The Engineer', so that were anyone to overhear, they couldn't trace the still-unsolved prison break back to the dirty, low-lit, abandoned building, filled with what only the smartest time lord would recognize as working machinery.   
The woman who was formerly president of the now desecrated planet has shortened her name permanently to Romana, because, as she admitted, no one used her full name anyway.   
And the woman who the Time Lords didn't know discovered their betrayal has been affectionately deemed the Scientist, because by now there is a manhunt out for her, as well. She scoffs at the assumption that she could help even if she wanted to.  
"They expect the laws of science to obey the way their people do." She says, baring her teeth in a cold smile.  
They survive in each-other's company only because they share a common goal. Sometimes, as the Engineer idly ponders past offenses, he considers killing one or both of them. But that would hinder The Work and The Work is all that is important.  
The Work is what will keep him alive.  
Romana brews tea in a passive-aggressive way, making it too hot on purpose, because to poison it would hinder The Work but she still doesn't like serving the Engineer, even as an uspoken favor. And the Engineer, for his part, drinks the scalding tea and proceeds to point out 8 minor mistakes Romana made while programming the machines.  
Romana takes these silently and helps him fix them, knowing that fighting would hinder The Work.  
The Scientist observes all this, smiling, and begins to formulate a hypothesis on how much people will put up with to reach a common goal. Normally, she would terrorize her two allies to test this hypothesis, but that would hinder The Work. Nothing must hinder The Work.  
They have all changed, for better or for worse, in accordance to the all-present needs of The Work.  
Only two of them are in it for their own survival. Romana has never intended to go with them. She wants to stand with her people in the last moments, a former president but still a leader and a time lord. She will not leave while the rest of her race dies. She knows that while the Doctor and her two allies are strong, she has known only Gallifrey for so long that its loss would drive her mad. The ones without ties will survive. The renegades. But not Romana.  
So instead, she does The Work for a different reason. A last favor to an old friend.

* * *

Thanks for the reviews! I'm enjoying writing this one. :)


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3: Wherein Rory is wrongly proclaimed healthy.

  
Author's note: Chapter 3: Wherein Rory is wrongly proclaimed healthy.  


* * *

Rory began to stay up late at night, and take naps during the day. The dreams only came at night. He tried to hide it from Amy, but she was getting worried.  
"Why aren't you sleeping?" She asked, catching his gaze in a rare Doctor-less moment.  
"I'm sleeping plenty." He said, not untruthfully, but with the uncomfortable air of someone telling an only technically-correct statement.  
"At night, Rory. Why aren't you sleeping at night?"  
He told her the truth. He told her that he woke up exhausted every night he slept. He half-heartedly proposed the theory that some of their crazy space adventures had gone and made him nocturnal.  
Amy didn't laugh. She went to the Doctor, who proclaimed him perfectly healthy.  
But he didn't feel healthy. And he began to grow tired again, when the dreams began slipping into his naps as well as his nighttime slumber. He couldn't shake them.  
He could feel himself getting weaker and weaker with every passing day, but there was nothing he could do.  
They changed again.


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 4: Wherein something has gone wrong.

  
Author's note: Chapter 4: Wherein something has gone wrong.  


* * *

The Work is almost done.  
There is one problem, one singular problem. Something, somewhere, has gone wrong. A message was sent and not received. The Engineer has checked all of the machinery dozens of times, and with each search he becomes more desperate.  
"We just assumed he would help." He says to Romana. "But what if he's getting the signal and he just doesn't want us to come back? The Scientist and I were never his favorite time lords."  
She tells him to shut up.  
"You've told us all about how he sobbed over your dying body. Don't pretend like you believe he'd just leave you to die."  
The Engineer comes to his senses and returns to work. He doesn't thank her and she doesn't expect him to.  
They have an understanding.

* * *

This one's short, but they'll get much longer from now on.  
Remember to review! ;)


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 5: Wherein the Doctor finally pays attention and the Master attends to an explosion.

  
Author's note: Chapter 5: Wherein the Doctor finally pays attention and the Master attends to an explosion.  


* * *

The Doctor finally picked up on Amy and Rory's worrying and took it upon himself to get it all sorted out.  
"Vandro-gaiden, the planet of dream interpretation!" He pronounced. "Home to the leading experts on insomnia and sleep disorders. Come along, Ponds, we'll get Rory fixed up."  
The planet was beautiful. It was covered in snow, with white clouds sprinkling more fat white flakes down on them from overhead. Despite this, everything seemed to be in full bloom. Trees stood tall with white trunks and periwinkle leaves, flowers bloomed in pastel rainbows, and the grass, where the snow had been shifted away, was a deep oceanic blue. The whole place was calming.  
So calming, in fact, that Rory got the idea that the whole place was some diabolical creation for getting him to fall asleep. All it needed was a music box in the background.  
Even the city didn't break the heavy, dream-like atmosphere. Buildings were built out of a soft, edge-less material with holes for the doors. The Doctor led them confidently down a street. Rory noticed something odd and mentioned it.  
"Doctor, why is nobody here?"  
The Doctor grinned, happily. "Oh, they're all around us, Rory. But they prefer gas forms to solid unless necessary. Come, I'll show you."  
He stepped into a store and rang the little bell on the counter.  
Immediately, out of nowhere, a figure just appeared behind the desk. It was like the dust in the air had suddenly congregated and taken form. Amy and Rory jumped back.  
"May I help you?" He asked in a soft voice.  
"Ah, yes." The Doctor said. "Yes, I was wondering--my friend, here, purebreed human, as it happens-he's been having recurring dreams. Exhausting recurring dreams he'd really rather do without. Can you recommend anything for that?"  
The man shook his head. "I'm afraid not." He said. "Bilchik might have known, but he's been missing for months."  
The Doctor perked up. "Really?" He asked, and began the normal line of questioning. Where did he disappear, what did he do, etc. Rory found his attention drifting. He was grateful when the Doctor snapped him wide awake, grabbing his arm and pulling, as they went off somewhere to do...something. Something dangerous, Rory supposed.

"Rory!"  
He snapped his eyes open. He hadn't realized they were closed.  
"Sorry." He said.  
"Are you listening to me? The building is going to explode and I broke the sonic getting us in here. We have to go!"  
It was a bad time for him to be tired.   
It was a worse time for him to pass out completely.  
The Doctor looked at him, helplessly.  
"We can carry him." Amy began, but the Doctor stopped her.   
"We need to hurry, he'll just slow us down. We can come get him after we deal with the explosion. The TARDIS can do that."  
They had already started to run.

Rory woke up in complete darkness. An alarm was blaring distantly somewhere outside the room. He staggered to his feet, feeling like he was upside down. He almost slammed face-first into the floor, and caught himself weakly on the wall. He groped around for a ledge, a table, anything to grab on to. His hand skimmed a broken monitor hooked up to some complicated machine, and he felt a sudden burst of energy flow through him. A bright white light was blinding him, and if he squinted hard he could make out the form of a ragged man in a semi-intact black suit, walking through the light. Rory only noticed that he was falling in slow motion towards the floor when the man caught him and lifted him up.  
"Who are you?" He asked.  
"Rory." Rory said. "Who-"  
"What's wrong with you, Rory?"  
He blinked. "What?"  
"I sent those messages--you did get the messages, didn't you? I sent them for the Doctor. I sent them to his TARDIS with the instructions, in case he'd regenerated, to target the oldest person on board. He's over a thousand years old, and you are quite clearly a twenty-first century human. So what's wrong with you?"  
"It's a long story." Rory said. "Listen, I think this place is kind of about to explode, could you--"  
The man spared the computer a passing glance and pulled out what looked like a crude version of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver. He began working in silence, and after a few seconds, the lights went on. The alarm stopped after about a minute. Then he really began to focus, sitting down and typing on a keyboard with one hand while he twirled the sonic in minute rotations with the other.  
"What are you doing?" Rory asked him.  
"Stopping the building exploding." The man said shortly.  
"How exactly are you doing that?"  
"I'm rewiring the network from this terminal and setting cooling bays to alternate and keep pressure consistent. I'm also sending psychic pulses to try to contact the Doctor. What are you doing?"  
"I never do much of anything." Rory admitted. "I'm sort of...expendable."  
"The Doctor always picks up people for a reason."  
"Yeah. He picked me up because Amy's my wife. She's the one who does things."  
"A married woman on the TARDIS?" He asked, interested. "Anyone else besides you two?"  
"No. Well, sometimes we run into River, but she never stays long."  
"River?"  
"She and the Doctor are going in backwards order. I think they're married, or were, or will be, but she never let's anything slip. They've never even kissed, as far as I know, but Amy calls her his space-wife."  
The man stood up and let the hand with the sonic hang to his side as he focussed all his energy on psychic contact. Rory couldn't tell, but he thought the man's face looked rejected.


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 6: Wherein our protagonists finally meet, and the Master and the Doctor are both in denial, one more than the other.

  
Author's note: Chapter 6: Wherein our protagonists finally meet, and the Master and the Doctor are both in denial, one more than the other.  


* * *

The sudden psychic flood was overwhelming and unexpected. The Doctor struggled for a moment, but he lost. He found his hands flipping buttons of their own accord, pulling levers, his feet bringing him round the console with a new objective.  
As they started moving, Amy looked up, startled. "What are you doing?" He couldn't answer.  
It left him just as quickly as it took hold of him, and he was left confused, standing in front of the TARDIS doors.   
"Doctor?" Amy asked.  
Hesitantly, he opened them.  
Rory scrambled inside, and behind him was a gut-clenchingly familiar, foul-tempered man. He slammed the door as he entered.  
"I need a long bath and a regeneration." He proclaimed loudly, and went to the bathroom before anyone could respond.

He had been saving this. Romana had urged him to regenerate on Gallifrey, when she had seen the torture scars and how much they were hurting him, but he had refused. There was no sense in wasting a new body if he was still stuck on Gallifrey. He had been saving a new, clean, pain-free body for a place it would actually stay that way.  
Of all the ways to kill himself, drowning seemed easiest. He didn't have to do anything-in fact, that was the point. It was a lack of something that would kill you. Oxygen, specifically.  
He drew up the bath nice and warm, and sunk under the water, his eyes closed. He concentrated on the sound of waves hitting the side of the tub. He was not thinking about how his head was devoid of any kind of drumbeat, no. He wasn't worried about how it still made him feel empty inside. Like he had lost a key part of himself. He ignored all of this.  
Well, he tried to.  
The drowning began to become uncomfortable. His respiratory bypass tried to kick in, but he repressed it. He rode the blackness all the way to the other side.  
Blinking, gasping for air and soaking wet, the Master sat up as the golden light faded. He took his time inspecting the new body. It was nice being clean and whole again. Without the scars of an old war.  
He got out of the tub and drained it, wrapping a towel around his waist. He turned a new eye to the clothes on the floor. Those wouldn't do at all.  
"Doctor?" He asked, poking his head out into the hallway. The Doctor was, surprisingly, right there, apparently waiting for him.  
"What." The Doctor said shortly. The Master was slightly off-put by his hostility.  
"Where do you keep clothes?"  
"Clothes?" He asked, surprised.  
"Yes, Doctor, clothes. Pieces of cloth, silk and other materials sown together and worn on the body to reduce the amount of visible skin. Ones preferably not covered in blood and dirt, the fate my suit has unfortunately been condemned to."  
He looked slightly suspicious, but didn't hesitate. "My closet's down the far right corridor. I can show you."  
The Master gave a single nod and allowed himself to be led to the closet.  
It was amazing how much clothing had been packed into this room. He saw things that were clearly companion's clothes, costumes, souvenirs, things of Doctors long passed, (He took a moment to secretly admire the infamous scarf.) and...  
He paused next to a rack of mostly dark colored clothing.  
"Did you keep this?" He asked, lifting up the cape.   
The Doctor looked shifty. "The TARDIS archives the clothing of all passengers." He said, which was not untrue. It was true that she usually disposed of these after a few years unless he specifically asked her not to. It was true that it had been more than a few years. But that wasn't...important information.  
The Master rubbed the cape between his thumb and forefinger, moving on. He looked through all his old clothes, even the suit he had been shot in, bloodstain, bullet hole and all.   
Finally, overcoming his reverie, he moved to a different rack and picked out a shirt, lifting it up to see it it would fit him. He didn't know his size anymore. He was taller than he had been. He looked down at the Doctor, who was very pointedly _not_ looking at him, and got dressed.

"How do I look?"  
The Doctor looked up, and his breath caught for a moment. The Master was wearing a white button-up shirt and a dark blue tie. He had wrapped a brown trench coat around himself. This was not what the Doctor was looking at.  
The Doctor was looking at his face. The face he had glanced at, briefly, while it was wet and half-turned away. He saw it now, full-on, and was lost for words.  
"What?" The Master asked.  
His hair was blonde, now, a messy mop which hung down into his face. Behind his hair were two big blue eyes, almost innocent. His features were soft, trustworthy. The Doctor had to hide his reaction with a poker face.  
"You look fine." he said. He was not contemplating how beautiful he suddenly found the Master. He was not mentally comparing this deranged serial killer to a young boy he'd once been friends with. No. Not even a little bit.  
*ahem*.  
"It's missing something." The Master said, inspecting himself in the mirror. He hunted around and found a fedora, screwing it onto his head. He lit up with a smile.  
"Perfect!"  
The Doctor's reaction to the very pretty, shining white, shiver inducing smile was one of disinterest. He was definitely not looking around inconspicuously for a book or something else to hold at waist level.  
Definitely.  
And when he retreated from the room to go find Amy and Rory, that was out of care for his companions. Not because he was internally conflicted.  
At least, that's what he told himself.

* * *

Every time someone leaves a review, an angel gets it's wings. 0:-)


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 7: Wherein the situation turns to the Master's favor, and the Doctor unknowingly makes a big mistake.

  
Author's note: Chapter 7: Wherein the situation turns to the Master's favor, and the Doctor unknowingly makes a big mistake.  


* * *

He couldn't believe this. Finally, his luck was changing.  
He spent a moment weighing the screwdriver in his hand, a grin seeping into his features. The Doctor, that stupid man, had left it in the pocket of his old suit.  
Unable to contain himself, he pointed the laser end at the nearest wall and burned a hole through it. Admiring the small work of destruction, he slipped the technology into the pocket of his new trench coat.  
He had to do this carefully. He had to wait for the right moment.  
He toweled off his hair and joined the Doctor and his new humans in the console room.  
"...absolutely the most dangerous, untrustworthy, evil man in the universe. He's been trying to kill me for centuries and I've been trying to stop him for about that long." He took a breath, and the Master injected himself into the conversation.  
"Oh, Doctor, my ears are red. Am I really the most dangerous man in the universe? Even compared to Davros? Rassilon?"  
"Yes." The Doctor said, without looking around. "Davros and Rassilon didn't accidently- _accidentally_ -destroy a fair portion of the universe. Or take over Earth. Build a working paradox machine. Attempt-"  
"You've made your point." He said, cheerfully.  
The Doctor continued the list in his head. All the reasons he hated the Master. The Master, who was standing right behind him. Whose hot breath was sending shivers up his spine. Whose hand was on his shoulder, a light, possessive touch.  
"I'll bet neither of them ever tortured you quite like I did, either." He whispered seductively. The Doctor shivered and pulled away.  
"Master-" He began, but the moment the word left his lips they both doubled over in agony, as the Time Lords' punishment took over. 


	9. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 8: Wherein things go very wrong and the Master has a flashback to a time he'd rather forget.

  
Author's note: Chapter 8: Wherein things go very wrong and the Master has a flashback to a time he'd rather forget.  


* * *

The Master had almost forgotten his punishment. The Doctor had never known.  
"Doctor!" Amy yelled, and she tried to get to him, but Rory pulled her back.

_They were mocking..._  
laughing...  
mocking him. HIM! He was...  
He was...  
He...  
They were angry now. Angry at him. He was screaming...  
Screaming...  
Oh, how loudly he was screaming...  
As they tortured him to the point of death but kept him from regenerating.  
And then the idea...  
Yes...  
What does a madman love? Nothing but himself. His own name, his title. His chosen identity. You want to break him...  
Take it away.  
His punishment? He was not a Time Lord. A child! Koschei once more, the Master no longer.  
And every time he said his name, every time he heard it directed at him...  
He would be reminded.  
...Painfully. 

The Master was first to recover. The Doctor found himself on the unfortunate end of a powerful uppercut, and fell to the ground, panting.  
"What-" He managed, but the Master kicked him in the face.  
" _Idiot!_ " He shouted. "Oh, I forgot, your stupid human intercepted all of that, didn't he? Because you need to keep goddamn humans on board! What do they actually do?"  
"I don't-"  
A sharp kick to the ribs.  
"Inferior." He spat.  
"Idiotic." He punctuated his words with violence.  
"Waste."  
"Of."  
"Time."  
The Doctor only managed to get to his feet, aching and bleeding, when the Master finally turned away to regain his control.   
"Why can't I say your name?" The Doctor asked, quietly, trying not to trigger another outburst of anger.  
"The Time Lords made it my punishment." The Master snarled.   
"They didn't-" The Doctor began, horrorstruck, but he was cut off.  
"Shut up." The Master hissed, gathering enough composure to turn around. "Leave me alone."  
He made sure the Doctor looked properly hurt before he turned and stalked away into the TARDIS.

* * *

Sorry for any delay! Internet outages are a bitch. What can you do? :p


	10. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 9: Wherein certain things are said and done under the influence of alcohol.

  
Author's note: Chapter 9: Wherein certain things are said and done under the influence of alcohol.  


* * *

For the next several days, they both held to an unspoken agreement and refused to acknowledge each-other.  If the Doctor was to appear behind him, under the pretense of making sure he wan't building a bomb or a laser, merely a miniature black hole generator, he would be promptly ignored. If the Master wandered into the console room to watch in disgust as the Doctor prodded his humans towards the door--a little _too_ enthusiastically--he would be treated as invisible.  
And, for the most part, this worked out to both of their liking.  
Until the Dalek.

"Run!" He shouted.  
"We're already running!" Amy screamed back, dodging the lasers.   
"Well, keep doing that, then!" He said, like Amy was the one being ridiculous. They skidded around a corner and finally saw the TARDIS. Final stretch, the Doctor thought. Almost home.  
And they made it.   
So did someone else.  
"EXTERMINATE!"  
He whirled around. The TARDIS had already started moving. He dodged the laser, shouting. The Dalek began to move after him, but there was a loud crashing sound and it stopped. It turned to see who had thrown a glass of whiskey at it.  
"EX-"  
And then it was dead. Daleks were not made to survive concentrated machine gun fire to the eyestalk.  
The Master set down the gun and took a shot from the bottle he had tucked in his trench coat pocket.  
"Bloody Daleks, ah?" He asked, grimacing. "They're like cockroaches."  
"Thanks." The Doctor said, straightening up.  
He gave a sly little smile. "I got a lot of target practice before I got off Gallifrey."  
The Doctor nodded.  
He stumbled forward, his balance clearly much worse than his aim while intoxicated.  
"Doctor." He said seriously, looking him in the eye as he clutched at his suit to remain upright. "I'm goddamn bored. I understand making the controls isomorphic, but the air conditioning? The door locks? Bloody lightswitches? This entire ship is horrible and I demand to be dropped off or at least get to have sex with you."  
"Sorry?" The Doctor said, sure he had lost the last part.  
"If you drop me off, I can get around to killing you like a normal person and not have to worry about the ship locking up like a tomb with me inside. If we have sex I'll forget about killing you for a few days and it'll help with the boredom."  
He laid his head on the Doctor's chest.  
Also, if you haven't noticed," He mumbled, "I'm just a little drunk."


	11. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Ten: In which plans are made, traps are set, and ruses perpetuated.

  
Author's note: Chapter Ten: In which plans are made, traps are set, and ruses perpetuated.  


* * *

He had noticed, of course. He had caught all those little longing glances, the fact that the Doctor would shiver at his touch, show up to "monitor" him doing things that really didn't need monitoring.  
The Doctor was not well-versed in the ways of subtlety, and this regeneration in particular seemed to have the mindset of an awkward teenager. Not that his body was so far off from that, either.  
It was so simple, unlike all of his other plans. A bottle of something resembling whiskey, finding some way to save him without seeming protective--he had to admit, the Dalek had been a lucky break. Acting drunk and proposing what the Doctor was too scared to initiate.  
Simple.  
And then? Wait. Because the Doctor wouldn't take advantage of him, no. He was too good for that.  
So it was two days later. Two days of him acting entirely normal and cold as usual, and then he sprung.  
"Doctor." The Master said from the doorway, leaning into the Doctor's room.  
"Ah...yes?" He asked, distracted. He was doing something to the sonic screwdriver.  
"Doctor." He said louder, stepping inside and closing the door. The Doctor looked up, and noticed with a jolt that the Master was leaning in, very...close...to him.  
"Yes?" He asked, the slight breathless quality to his voice making him blush. He was over 1000! He needed to put away these...adolescent hormones immediately, especially in a situation like this, where, despite drunken ramblings, they would never be reciprocated-  
"I wasn't kidding about the sex."  
"The sex?" He asked, cursing himself for the tightening in his pants at the mere word from that mouth.  
"The sex." The Master said, drawing it out torturously while he smiled innocently. "I still haven't relieved my boredom. Are you available?"  
"I...uh..." He swallowed. "I suppose...I mean, if that's..."  
"Don't think of it as giving in to shameful lust." The Master encouraged. "Think of it as combatting my need to be violent. Under you...influence," (The Doctor tried not to shiver.) "I might even go a whole week without contemplating killing your human friends."  
"How often do you usually think about killing my human friends?"   
"I'm thinking about it right now." The Master breathed in his ear.  
"Well then, I suppose we should do something about that."  
The Master touched the laser screwdriver still safely tucked in his pocket and grinned. Maybe the simplest plans were best.

* * *

I'll be wrapping this up in a few more chapters. Thanks for the lovely comments. :)


	12. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 11: In which a trap is are sprung and promises are remembered.

  
Author's note: Chapter 11: In which a trap is are sprung and promises are remembered.  


* * *

He set about undressing the Doctor immediately. When he had been stripped to his boxers, the Master put his hand around the other's neck, pulling him in for a long kiss. The Doctor moaned and leaned into it. Using this leverage, the Master pushed the Doctor onto the bed.  
When he pulled away, the Doctor gasped out, "Shouldn't you be undressing as well?"  
"In a moment." He murmured, kissing him again before he could think. He used this distraction to pull the handcuffs out of his pocket and clip them to the bedpost.  
He broke off the kiss, smiling down at the Doctor and guiding his arm to the handcuffs.  
"What are you-" The Doctor began, craning his neck back. "Wait, no, I'd really rather you didn't-"  
"Shh." The Master reprimanded him. "Calm down." He kissed him once more to quiet him, this time letting his hand trail down to stroke the Doctor's boxers. The Doctor moaned again, a long, guttural sound, his protests forgotten.  
The Master used his free hand to retrieve the second set of handcuffs, attaching them to the other bedpost the Doctor's unresisting hand.  
He sat back, ceasing all movement. The Doctor looked up at him, all but disabled by lust.  
"I'm sorry." The Master told him.  
"What?" He was confused, his mind scrambling to understand why the touching had stopped.  
"I actually am sorry. Believe me, under better circumstances...you are _frustratingly_ adorable in this regeneration...but I have a promise to keep."  
"What?" He asked again, fear drowning out lust like a bucket of ice. He struggled against the handcuffs, horrified, as the Master stood up, brushed himself off, and went to the door.  
"No, wait, you can't just-no! Stop! No!"  
In his desperation he made a tactical error.  
"Master!"  
They both suffered through almost a minute of sweet agony, and then the Master turned around. His eyes were cold. He whipped out the screwdriver and brought it down in a slash, burning a stripe through the Doctor's chest and singeing the pillows. The Doctor howled at this mistreatment, and the Master brought it down again, from the opposite side, to form an X.  
"Never." He snarled. "Do. That. Again."  
He closed the door and dead-bolted it shut, making his way to the console room. He overrode the isomorphic and set a course for Torchwood.  
It would all be done with, soon.

_The woods are lovely, dark and deep._  
But I have promises to keep,  
And miles to go before I sleep,  
And miles to go before I sleep. 

* * *

I didn't know if this would up the rating from PG-13 or not. There is obvious mention of sex, and they even get onto the bed, but as nothing actually happens I think we're good. If anyone was offended just tell me and I'll change the rating.


	13. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 12: In which many things happen, not all of them objectively bad.

  
Author's note: Chapter 12: In which many things happen, not all of them objectively bad.  


* * *

"Jack!" He said warmly, faking intimacy. "Oh, how good to see you again!"   
"Doctor?" Jack asked, smiling at the sight of the TARDIS, even if it's driver seemed to have regenerated.  
"The very same!" He said happily, pulling Jack in for a hug. "Sorry to bother you, but I just need to use your big rift-y computer-y thingamawhatsit. I need to make a wormhole portal."  
"Be my guest." Jack said, gesturing to the computer. The Master gave him a smile as a reward and went to the machine, beginning his work.  
He let his mind drift to the Doctor. He would be punished for this. The Doctor would lock him up, properly, this time, and he probably wouldn't have the chance to make good on the attraction he really did feel. He frowned. He needed some way to pacify him, some act to temper the one he was about to commit.

With a keystroke and a flourish, the portal opened.  
The Rani stepped through, glaring at the Master. "Took you long enough." She muttered. "I nearly thought you'd forgotten."  
"Me? Forget you?" The Master asked, acting hurt. "Rani, when have I ever been untrustworthy?"  
She smiled despite herself.  
"Oh, I don't know." She said. "Most of the time?"  
But the Master wasn't listening. He was looking past her, now, to the still-open portal.  
"She's not coming." The Rani said.  
"I know."   
"I'm serious, she said she didn't want to come."  
"Yeah." He said. "Leave it open." He walked through the white portal, back to Gallifrey.  
She had her eyes closed, her head tilted back towards the ceiling. She was sitting in a swivel chair, turning slowly.  
"Romana."  
She opened her eyes and looked up at him.  
"No." She said.  
"I'm going to have to tell him that you had the chance to survive and chose to die. Don't do that to him."  
 "No." She repeated, forcefully. "I'm staying."  
"No, you aren't." The Master said, making up his mind. He grabbed her arm and pulled. She struggled, screaming, but he pulled her through the portal.  
Rani closed it as soon as they were through, and the Master let go of Romana. She turned to him and began screaming again, her face flushed and tear-streaked.  
"You selfish bastard!" She screamed. "This is for him, isn't it? You're only doing this for the Doctor! But I'm going to remind him of all the horrible things you've done! I'll make him despise you! And then I'll kill myself anyway. You don't control me. Don't touch me. Don't breathe on me, you RAT!"  
She was already feeling the effects, the fading of time lords, the growing emptiness, and it drove her to violence. She punched him in the face.  
As he staggered backwards, Jack raised his gun. "Who are you?" He growled. "You said you were the Doctor."  
"The Doctor?" Romana was hysterical now with tears and bitter laughter. "Him? Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no. Evil. Worthless. Bastard. That's what he is. Torture and hatred and the heart of a Dalek."  
"I saved your life." The Master snarled.  
"Feel free to pity him, though." Romana told Jack bitterly. "He's fallen so far. He can't even hear his own name anymore. It hurts too much."  
"Who is he?"  
"Romana, no!" The Master shouted, as a cold smile broke on her lips. "Please, Romana-"  
"What, Master?" She asked, looking him straight in the eye. She leaned into Jack, deathly silent in her pain as the Master collapsed under its weight.  
Jack had heard all he needed.


	14. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 13: In which unhappy truths are revealed and an emergency is declared.

  
Author's note: Chapter 13: In which unhappy truths are revealed and an emergency is declared.  


* * *

"Where is he?"   
Jack turned away from the glaring man handcuffed to a chair to address a scowling Doctor leading his two companions out of the TARDIS. He had forsaken his coat and his bow tie in his hurry, and the burn marks were visible through his thin shirt. His sleeves were not long enough to hide the red wounds where he had struggled against the handcuffs.  
Jack pointed silently to the Master.  
"Right!" He said loudly. "I hope it was worth it, because you're going to spend the remainder of this regeneration chained to things."  
The Master smiled despite himself. The Doctor was so obviously uncomfortable and awkward that he was surprised Jack hadn't picked up on it. The freak was too busy glaring at him and aiming his gun to pay much attention.  
"Don't you want to hear what I've done before you decide on punishment?" He asked.  
"What has he done?" The Doctor asked Jack, in a transparent effort to not have to look at the Master.  
"He opened a portal and two people came out of it." Jack said, not looking away from the Master.  
"Who?" The Doctor demanded. Jack shrugged.  
"Who?" He repeated, directing this one at the Master. He was met with a smile.  
"Just a couple time lords."   
"What? Who?" He asked again, all the possibilities quickening his heart. Rassilon, Omega, the many horrible people responsible for trying to end the universe...  
"Don't give me that look. Always expect the worst, don't you? Try Romana. She's in Jack's office, alive and...not well, I suppose, but alive. Happy birthday."  
"Romana?" He turned a hopeful eye to Jack, fears forgotten.  
"I think that is what he was calling her, yeah." Jack said. "Why, who is she?"  
"Romana...Romana is good. She's a former president of Gallifrey, and a very close friend of mine."  
He was looking over at Jack's office, now, drifting almost unconsciously towards it.  
He caught himself and turned to Jack. "Keep an eye on him." He demanded, and he went into the office.  
A few minutes later, he came back out, supporting the shaking woman. He led her over to the group, gave her a strong hug, and let go of her. She slid down into a sitting position, her eyes on the floor.  
"Hang on, you said two people." He told Jack. "Where's the other one?"   
Jack looked around, surprised. "I...uh...I don't know. She must have wandered off while Romana was calling him a bastard." He nodded at the Master.  
"Who was it?" The Doctor asked him.  
"You're not going to like this." The Master sighed.  
"Who was it?" The Doctor repeated.  
"Now, calm down, be reasonable, Doctor, I owed her a favor, she saved my life."  
"Who. Did. You. Bring. Back." He growled, leaning down to glare.  
"The Rani."   
And things happened very, very quickly.  
The Doctor picked up the Master, chair and all, and threw him into the TARDIS. Jack found his broken vortex manipulator missing, to which Romana told them both in a dead voice that Rani had a sonic screwdriver. The Doctor pushed Amy and Rory back onto the TARDIS, and didn't even argue as Jack boarded as well.   
And thousands of years in the future, trillions of miles away, a woman named the Scientist or perhaps the Rani smiled. And a very threatening smile it was.

* * *

Well, last chapter! (Except the epilogue.) Have to admit, this is the longest thing I've ever finished. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!


	15. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue: In which certain people have bad timing.

  
Author's note: Epilogue: In which certain people have bad timing.  


* * *

It was hard to catch a moment alone, with Jack watching his every move. But eventually he managed it.  
"No handcuffs." He said, giving his best remorseful face. He pulled out his pockets to prove it.  
"No." The Doctor replied.  
"I did apologize."  
"The answer is no."  
"It was hard, for me, you know. To just leave you there. I think you vastly underestimate yourself. Just laying there, helpless, wanting me..." He coughed. "It took an amazing amount of self control not to jump your bones."  
"I'm glad you're proud of yourself, then." He snapped.  
"I mean, I thought your last regeneration was good looking...but there's something about this one..." He sighed. "Please?"  
"For the last time, no!"  
"Does that mean this next time will be a yes?"  
"Are you actually trying to annoy me into having sex with you?"  
"That depends. Is it working?"  
He rolled his eyes and told the grudging truth. "Maybe a little."  
"Then I won't rest until you've been sufficiently annoyed."  
"Why are you so hell bent on this?"  
"Nothing else to do. Especially with Freaky McImortal staring down my shirt every second."  
The Doctor was about to respond when an alarm blasted over the intercom. They had picked up some trace of the Rani.  
"Damn." The Master muttered to himself, as he was dragged by the wrist towards the console room and three awaiting humans. "Horrible timing, as usual, Rani."

FIN.

* * *

And there you have it. I don't know if I'll write a sequel or not, but I'm open to the possibility. If you liked it or hated it or had any opinion, make sure to review!


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